This invention relates to a printer head for use in a printer which is of the type generally called, for example, a dot impact printer or a dot character printer.
Such a conventional printer head comprises a frame member and a plurality of print elements. The frame member has a principal surface which opposes a print medium when the printer head is in use. Each of the print elements has a printing end which is for impacting the print medium to print a dot on the printing medium. In order to carry out such a print operation, the printing end is movable from a rest position to an activated position in a predetermined sense of a predetermined direction which is perpendicular to the principal surface.
In the conventional printer head, the printing end protrudes from the principal surface of the frame member in the predetermined sense even when it is placed at the rest position. For protecting such a protruded part of the printing end, the conventional printer head comprises a protecting member which is fixed to the frame member. The protecting member has a free end which is substantially flush with the printing end. Such a free end serves to effectively protect the printing end.
On manufacturing such a printer head, the print elements are movably carried by the frame member. Thereafter, the printing end is usually machined, as by grinding to adjust the rest position.
However, it is hard to carry out machining of the printing end in the conventional printer head because the free end obstructs the machining. As a result, the printing end is protruded from the free end in the predetermined sense to an extent of, for example, several tens of microns even when it is placed at the rest position. This results in troubles of the print operation because the free end of the protecting member does not serve to effectively protect the printing end.